Shoe heel mounting



G m KT Rm llo UM Qm .E WH JE O un S Filed Nov. 25, 1956 HTToen/Ev/sUnited States Patent Oiitice SHOE HEEL MOUNTING Justin P. Quirk,Clayton, Mo. Application November 23, 1956, Serial No. 623,964

4 Claims. (Cl. 36-42) This invention relates generally to shoeconstruction, and more particularly to the construction of the heelportion of the shoe to provide an improved mounting for a shoe heel.

The current styles of womens shoes require a wide variety of shapes anddesigns of heels, some of which are made of plastic or other materialshaving insufficient mass or strength alone to support the heel portionof the shoe in wear. Other shapes of heels are narrow in cross sectionand, even when made of materials such as wood having relative inherentstrength, have insuflicient mass to provide the strength necessary tosupport the heel when worn.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe heel mountingincluding a support having adequate strength to support shoe heelssubstantially independently of the shoe heel body, and which supportalso provides for mounting heels of various shapes and designs'.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for attaching a heelbody to the rear portion of a shoe whereby, when the shoe is worn, backand forth movement of the heel will be avoided and there will be nopulling away at the back of the heel body or at the breast, Y

as well as preventing separation of the upper face of the heel from thesole throughout the area of attachment. Furthermore, the heel will thusbe prevented from any breakage even though placed under abnormal strainswhen the shoe is worn.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel mountinghaving requisite strength during wear independently of any supportafforded by the heel body, thereby to provide adequate resistance tonormal compressive strains, and bending or buckling and other strains towhich the heel may be subjected in wear.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel mountingwhereby the heel body is so clamped in place that the heel will besecured to the shoe sole independently of direct attaching means betweenthe contiguous face of the heel and shoe sole.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel mounting inwhich the parts are arranged as substantially the sole support for theload imposed by the wearer, in which the compressive force issupportedby a member positioned on a vertical axis normal to the treadsurface of the heel.

Another object of the invention is to` provide a structure that may bereadily attached and detached at the heel seat portion of a shoe tomount heels of various exterior and interior formation in order toprovide means for interchange or replacement of the heels, whether suchheels have relatively solid or hollow bodies.

Other advantages such as relatively low cost, facility of mounting,removal and replacement, and durability will appear from the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

Figure l is a bottom plan view of the plate adapted to be attached tothe inner face ofthe shoe sole at the heel seat;

2,852,866 Patented Sept. 23, 1958 Figure 2 is a view 'showing themembers of the heel` Figure 5 is a vertical section illustratingtheassociation of the parts of the mounting with one form of heel bodyattached to the rear section of a shoe sole;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical section of the lower v part of the shoeheel body and the lower section `of the supporting stem in place withthe heel lift shown in assembled position; and

Figure 7 is a vertical section similar to the construction illustratedin Figure 5, but additionally illustrating the application of a heel toa shoe which .includes a shank stiffener and an insole.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the shoeheel mounting is shown as including a plate 10, which plate has theconfiguration of the interior rear section of a shoe and yof a dimensionto substantially cover the area bounded by the interiorwalls of the heelseat section. This plate is provided with a series of prongs 11 on theunderface thereof and carries at a suitable position on its innersurface and integrally formed therewith a threaded boss 12. This plateis adapted to be seated securely within the internal heel seat sectionof the sole of the shoe with the boss extending through an opening 13through` the shoe sole, as clearly shown in Figure 5.

While in Figure 5, the illustration shows simply the rear section of anoutsole at the heel seat, it will be 'understood that, if the shoe isconstructed, for example,

In Figure 7, the shoe is illustrated as including, in

addition to the heel seat, an insole a, a. shank stiffener b interposedbetween thevinsole and outsole c. When these additional elements areembodied in the shoe construction, the opening 13, it will beunderstood, extends Vthrough these three elements and the plate 10 willoverlie them. The boss 12 is then extended through the opening in thethree elements, as clearly illustrated in Figure 7. When the heel isapplied to a shoe of this construction, an extremely iirm attachement ofthe heel results. It will be noted that in both the constructionillustrated in Figure 5 and that illustrated in Figure 7 the plate 10 issubstantially coextensive with the heel seat and has metal extendingboth fore and aft of the boss 12. With both constructions, therefore,there is an. extremely firm attachment of the heel at the bottom of theheel seat of the shoe, and when the shoe is in use it is prevented fromdisplacement as it is held against tilting even when subjected toabnormal strains when the shoe is worn.

It is contemplated that in the construction of the plate and theattachment of the boss thereto the plate will be parallel with the planeof the shoe sole; but the angularity of the boss in respect to the platewill be such that, when the shoe heel is in assembled position, the axisof the threaded portion of the boss will be normal to the plane of thetread portion of the heel.

A stem 14, preferably of light metal although other materials havingsuflicient strength may be employed, has a threaded upper section 15that is adapted to thread into the internal threaded portion or socket16 ofthe boss 12. The lower section of the stem 14 is provided with arecess 17, the wall of the recess being serrated as indicated at 18. Thebottom opening of the recess is ared outwardly to form a `narrow flange19. The stem 14 .constitutes the means of supporting the load imposedupon the heel section when the shoe is worn, it being understood thatwhatever material is employed for fabricating the steml it will havesuficient strength alone to Vconstitute the full support-for thecompression load, and sufficient strength to avoid any buckling orbending.

The'heel body 20 may have any desired outer contour and may be of wood,plastic or other suitable material; Inasmuch as the heel body proper isrelieved from supporting the load, it is not necessary that it be ofmaterial having any substantial strength, and indeed may be made inskeleton form with relatively thin walls. The heel body is formed with acore or axial opening 21 extending therethrough in which the stem 1,4 isreceived in such a manner that the upper threaded end 15 thereof threadsinto the threaded socket 16 with the flange 1.9.abutting` against thelower surface of the heel body at thepbottom end of the core 21.

After the heel has been thus assembled and the stem mounted therein, theupper end is tightened down into the socket 16. This operation may beaccomplished conveniently by the use of such a tool as an Allen wrenchfragmentarily indicated at 2S, the upper end of which is serrated inorder that it may enter the recess 17 and interlockingly engage the sidewalls of the recess.

This operation serves to clamp the upper face of the heel body firmlyagainst the exterior surface of the outsole at the heel seat, therebyfirmly holding the heel body in place without requirement for any otherattaching means between the contiguous surfaces of the upper face of theheel body and the outer face of the sole. The tension effectedbymounting the stem 14 is sufficient to rmly hold the heel body in placefor the reason that the flange 19 serves as an abutment at the lower endof the heel, and the upper face of the heel firmly abuts against theheel section of the outsole, in effect providing thereby a tievrod clampfor the heel body.

This clamping action draws the underface of the plate 10 in closecontact with the inner surface of the heel portion of the shoe andcauses the prongs 1.1 to bite into the material, thereby preventing anyturning move- 'ment of the plate. Therefore, it will be noted that, whenthe heel body'is clamped in place, substantially the entire weight isimposed upon the plate 10 and transmitted to the stern 14 by itsconnection into the boss 12, and the load is carried directly axiallydownwardly to contact with such supporting surface that may be traversedby the wearer.

A heel lift 26 in the form of a disc, the periphery of which conforms tothe side wall of the bottom of the heel body, is provided with anupwardly projecting stem Z7, thevperiphery of which stem is serratedcomplementarily to the inner surface of the recess 17. Therefore, thestem may be seated in the recess with a press fit, and held in positionagainst turning movement by the cooperation of the surface of the sternin the recess. In order that the upper face of the member 26 may bebrought liush with the bottom surface of the heel body, a channel orgroove 28 may be formed in the upper face of the disc 26, and when theparts are fully assembled the iiange 19 will seat in this channel givinga finished appearance to the heel.

As has been noted, it is important that the axis of the stem 14 be soassociated with the boss 12 on the plate 10 that its axis is normal tothe tread face of the heel, in order that the weight imposed on the stemwhen the shoe is worn will be substantially directly verticallydownwardly, normal to the plane of the normal wear surface of the bottomof the heel. The mounting disclosed, therefore, will effectively preventin wear any back and forth movement of the heel or heel body tiltingforwardly at the back edge or pulling forwardly at the breast edge,since the clamping effectively holds the upper surface of the heel bodyso closely against the outer surface of the outsole that there is noopportunity for the upper surface of the heel to pull away from the areaof the outsole to which it is clamped. Thus, the heel body is so firmlysupported that there is no likelihood that under normal conditions therewill be any breaking of the edges of the heel body, and the heel will bedurable in wear.

Furthermore, it is obvious that the heels may be readily attached toshoes and removed therefrom so that the heel may be easily replaced orinterchanged with other style designs. It is likewise apparent that, asthe heel lift is readily removable and replaceable, various materialsmay be employed as the operation of replacing a heel lift may be easilyand inexpensively accomplished.

It is obvious also that the mounting lends itself for the use with heelbodies of various materials, and of various contours in order to meetthe growing tendency of styling the shapes and designs of heels usedprincipally on womens shoes.

Further modification in structural details are contemplated as beingWithin the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mounting for attaching a heel to a shoe having a heel seat with acentral opening therethrough comprising, in combination: a heel bodyhaving a seat area cornplementary to the heel seat of the shoe, and atread surface generally horizontal, a bore through the heel body normalto the tread surface and at an angle to the heel seat, and adapted to bealigned with the opening through the heel seat; a rigid plate having anarea substantially coextensive with the heel seat portion of the shoe, aboss integral with the plate, having a threaded projection thereinextending from the lower surface of said plate, positioned at the middleof the plate, the boss being arranged to extend through the opening inthe heel seat and into the bore, with the rigid plate extendinglaterally in all directions from the boss, to engage the inside of theshoe, the boss having a threaded portion coaxial with the bore, at anangle normal to the tread surface of the heel, and a threaded steminsertable into the bore from the lower end thereof, and having athreaded upper end attachable to the threaded portion of the boss, thestem having a shoulder at its lower end and the heel body having a lowerhorizontal wall against which the shoulder is adapted to engage, wherebywhen said stern is threaded into engagement with the threaded portion ofthe boss the heel body will be securely clamped to the heel seat andrestrained against tilting movement when the shoe is in use, and whenthe shoe is in use, the stern is substantially vertical, and a top liftsecured to the tread of the heel body below the stern.

2. The mounting of claim 1 in combination with the shoe, the `shoelhaving a shank stitfener extending backwardly adjacent the heel seat tobeyond the opening through the heel seat, the stiifener having analigned opening, so that the boss of the plate can engage in bothopenings, and the mounting can be stabilized by the stifener.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the stem has a socketextendingupwardly from its bottom, and the top lift has a plug extending upwardlyfrom its top and engageable into the socket for holding the top liftonto the heel.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the socket and plug arecomplementary and non-circular, so that a noncircular wrench may befitted into the socket prior to insertion of the top lift plug, to turnthe stem tightly onto the threads of the boss.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,340,910 Preo et al. May 25, 1920 1,375,671 Cerf Apr. 26, 19211,772,293 Skovronek Aug. 5, 1930

